Family
by Katriona
Summary: AU. Prue seperated from her sister's after Andy's death, and they never knew that she had a child. Before she was killed, she learned of the existence of a half-sister, who she would leave her baby if anything happened. How will Paige react to raising the


**Family**   
(working title)   


  
Summary: AU. Prue seperated from her sister's after Andy's death, and they never knew that she had a child. Before she was killed, she learned of the existence of a half-sister, and arranged for the baby to go to her if anything happened to Prue. How will Paige react to raising the daughter of a sister she never knew she had? 

A/N: It's an alternate universe fic. Ignore pretty much all the history from the show, because I'm rewriting it starting from the first season's finale/second season's premier. Most if not all of the background info will be explained in the fic, so just keep that in mind as you're reading. And please review, 'cause I'll update faster. 

A/N2: To really understand this chapter, you probably would need to have seen "Deja Vu All Over Again" and "Witch Trial," but if you haven't, don't worry, it's just a prologue. I'd suggest reading it anyway, though, so you won't be completely lost in chapter one. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Andy, Darryl, Glen, Tyler, Leo, or any other Charmed characters that may come into play here. Peony is mine, along with whatever other original characters show up. 

  


**Prologue**   


* * *

  


'_Oh. My God,_' thought Prue Halliwell, staring down at the long white stick held carefully in her hands. The stick was a pregnancy test, and, according to the directions that she'd read scrupulously more than once, it was positive. 

"Prue," came her younger sister's voice on the other side of the door. Startled by Phoebe's pounding, Prue dropped the test. "Prue, sweetie, come on, we're running late." 

"You're not kidding," Prue muttered. "I'll be out in a second, Pheebs," she called to her sister. Sighing, she bent down to retrieve the test. Tears formed behind her eyes as she desposed of it, making sure to conceal it first in toilet paper so her sisters wouldn't find it. '_I can't tell them_,' she thought. '_At least, not now. Not today. God, any time but today._' 

"Honey, we really need to leave." This time it was her other sister, Piper, calling her. "Prue, just open the door, please?" 

"O-okay," Prue stammered. "Just give me a second." She quickly washed her hands, ran her fingers through her hair, and smoothed out her simple black dress. Hoping that her sisters wouldn't notice what was wrong, she took a deep breath and opened the door. 

"Come on, honey," Piper said, grabbing Prue's hand and pulling her into the hallway. "Hey," she said, putting her arms around her older sister. "I know how hard this must be for you, especially with everything that's happened in the past year. I know you don't want to deal with this right now, but I think that going to Andy's funeral will be good for you, bring you some kind of closure." 

"Andy's funeral," Prue repeated. "Closure. Right." Suddenly, she snapped back to attention. "Yeah, I think you're right, Piper. I mean, of course you are. So, um, are we leaving now?" 

"Yeah," Piper said, noticing her sister's odd behavoir but attributing it to grief. "Phoebe's waiting in the foyer." 

Prue nodded, and walked quickly past her sister to the front of the house. '_Just get through today_,' she told herself. '_Worry about the rest later_.' 

  


**Ten Weeks Later**

  


"Prue, it said to fight it with the Power of One. That has to mean you." 

"Why, Phoebe? Just because I'm the oldest?" 

"Because you're the strongest." 

"According to whom?" 

"According to every demon we've ever come up against, that's who." 

"Well who says we should fight it at all? Everything happens for a reason, right? Maybe the reason for this is to give us a way out." 

"Prue, you don't mean that." 

"Don't I?" 

"Hey!" Piper yelled, putting an end to her sisters' bickering. They both stopped talking and looked up. Satisfied that she'd gotten their attention, Piper continued. "Now just listen, both of you. We need to get the Book of Shadows back from Abraxas. All we know so far is that the book told us to fight it with the Power of One. I think Phoebe's right, Prue, you are the strongest, so maybe it does mean you. Or maybe it doesn't, I don't know. The point is, we really don't have a better plan at the moment, so I guess we have to use this one, if only until we come up with something else. Agreed?" 

"Thank you," Phoebe said, nodding. Both she and Piper looked to their oldest sister. 

"Fine," Prue reluctantly conceded. "I'll go along with it. For now. But I still don't see how I can fight him on my own, and right now I don't have time to figure it out, so if you'll excuse me, I have a really important auction at work and I have to leave, like, now." 

"Prue, you're kidding me, you're really going to work at a time like this?" Phoebe questioned. 

"Yes, Phoebe, I'm going to work," Prue snapped back. "I'd still like to have some semblance of a normal life when this is all over." Without giving her sisters a chance to reply, she spun around and headed for the door, leaving them to wonder what exactly she'd meant. 

Prue got into her car, but didn't start it right away. Instead, she leaned back and thought, her hand resting on her stomach. She still hadn't told her sisters about her pregnancy. Luckily, she hadn't yet started to show, but she knew that wouldn't last much longer. She was already almost four months along. Her sisters were bound to find out sooner rather than later, and she wanted them to find out from her. '_Tonight_,' she vowed, '_I'll tell them tonight_.' 

  


**That Evening**

  


"Okay, I'm here," Prue said, breezing into the attic where her sisters already stood. "Now what?" 

"See, Piper, I knew she'd come," Phoebe said. 

"No you didn't," Piper countered. 

"I'm here, okay?" Prue repeated. "Let's just get this over with." 

"Yes, let's," Piper agreed. "All right, now to get to him we're creating a portal just like the one he made to get to the book this morning. That's when you come in and do... well, do whatever it is you do, okay? Okay. Let's go." 

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe joined hands and chanted a spell, opening the portal to the astral plane. Abraxas was right in front of them, and Prue raised her hand to use her power, but something stopped her. She froze, terrified. The demon, seizing his opportunity, threw them across the room and closed the portal, leaving the witches right back where they'd started. 

"What the hell was that?" Phoebe demanded, rising to her feet. 

Prue, in a sort of shock, didn't respond right away. She got up slowly, checking to make sure she hadn't been injured, and finally said, "What was what?" 

"You hesitated," Phoebe answered, as if stating the obvious. 

Prue shook her head. "I didn't." 

"The hell you didn't," Piper exclaimed. "Prue, we both saw you." 

"No," Prue said, still shaking her head. "No." She backed away slowly, then suddenly bolted down the stairs. Her sisters followed closely behind. 

"What is wrong with you?" Phoebe charged. "Prue, you could have beaten him." 

"No, I couldn't." 

"You didn't even try!" 

"Because I can't," Prue shot back, temporarily silencing her sisters. The tears that had been forming for some time now finally started spilling over. "I'm not as strong as you think I am. I can't be. Because if I'm so damn powerful, then why couldn't I protect Andy? If I'm supposed to be such a super-witch, why couldn't I save him? You both keep telling me that there's some point to all this, some greater good we're working for, but I don't know if I can believe that anymore. How can this possibly be any good if all it does is get the people we love killed?" 

At this, both of her sisters embraced her at once, hugging her and telling her it would be all right. Their words weren't enough. Prue knew that she'd never be able to go back to doing magic full-time, and she'd certainly never be able to raise a child around it. She also knew that her sisters wouldn't want to give it up, and that it wouldn't be fair to ask them to. The way she saw it, there was only one thing she could do. 

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling away. "I really am. But I can't keep doing this. I'll help you guys get the book back, but after that, I just can't be a part of this." 

"Prue, what are you saying?" Piper questioned. 

Prue inhaled deeply. "I'm saying that I'm leaving. I can't handle the constant attacks, the never knowing who or what will come after us next, the 'family emergency' excuses I'm always having to repeat. Most of all, I can't handle watching the people I love get killed. I'm really sorry, but I just have to do this." 

"You aren't serious," Phoebe said. "Honey, I know that this is the first demon you've faced since Andy died, but-" 

"But it's so much more than that. I can't really explain to you why I'm doing this," she added, lightly touching her stomach, "Just please, trust me when I say that it's something I have to do." 

"How can we?" Piper questioned. "How can we trust you when you're talking about leaving us, your family? Are you planning on having any contact with us at all?" 

"Shh," Prue quieted her sisters, not wanting to have to tell them that the answer to that question was probably no. It killed her to even be thinking about this, but the more she talked about it, the more she became convinced that it was the best thing she could do for her baby. "Let's just focus on getting the book back for now, okay?" she suggested. "We'll talk about this afterward." 

"Oh, you bet we will," Phoebe started to say before Piper clamped a hand over her mouth. 

"We are going to talk about this later," Piper asserted. Prue nodded, and led her sisters upstairs. 

  


**Later That Night**

  


"You said we were going to talk about this," Piper recalled, leaning against the doorway of Prue's bedroom. The room was now nearly empty, with most of the possessions that had filled it now in boxes in Prue's car. 

"There really isn't anything to talk about," Prue said firmly. "We discussed it before." 

"Hardly," Phoebe countered, "And even then, we didn't actually think you'd do it, especially not so quickly. Prue, please, just stay the night, talk to us in the morning..." 

Prue shook her head, knowing that this would only get harder the longer she waited. "I'm sorry, Phoebe, and Piper, but please try to understand-" 

"How?" Piper demanded. "How are we supposed to understand any of this when you won't tell us what's going on?" 

Prue sighed. She hated seeing her sisters so furious at her, but she preferred it over the pain she knew they'd be feeling once the shock wore off. For now, she wanted them to be angry with her. Anger was a safer emotion than sorrow, and she wanted her sisters to be safe. 

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I really am. I hope that some day you'll forgive me for leaving you. Please, just know that I love you both, and I always will, no matter what." With tears falling from her eyes, she gave both of her sisters a kiss good-bye, and left the manor for the last time. 


End file.
